Angel Food Cupcakes with Compote Filling
Homemade angel food cupcakes filled with strawberry limoncello compote & covered in 7-minute frosting are airy dreamy bites of heaven.
Ingredients
Strawberry Limoncello Compote
- 5 cups strawberries, sliced in half and quartered
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup limoncello
- lemon juice, to taste
- salt, to taste
Angel Food Cupcakes
- 1 and 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup cake flour
- 10 egg whites, at room temperature about 1 and 1/4 cups
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 Minute Frosting
- 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Strawberry Limoncello Compote
- Combine 3 cups strawberries, sugar, and limoncello in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 8 minutes, until the fruit is soft.
- Let the mixture cool to room temperature and then puree in a blender or food processor until smooth.
- Pour into a bowl and mix in the remaining sliced strawberries (2 cups). Add till the taste is right: lemon juice, salt, and a little more limoncello. Add more sugar if necessary.
- Pour into an airtight container and store in the fridge.
Angel Food Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. This cake batter makes 12 large 4-inch cupcakes or 24 standard sized cupcakes. Only butter the bottoms of the muffin tins. Don’t put butter on the sides-that will stop the batter from climbing up. Angel food cake cools suspended upside down, so it’s best not to use cupcake liners because they will fall right out of the tins.
- Whisk a 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup cake flour together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the rest of the sugar (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) and the salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large stainless steal or glass bowl use a beater with a whisk attachment to whip the egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute.
- Increase the speed to medium-high and whip the egg whites until they are soft and billowy mounds, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whip in the sugar and salt mixture a tablespoon at a time, about 1 minute.
- Keep whipping the whites until they are shiny and have formed soft peaks, 1 to 3 minutes.
- Fold in the water, lemon juice, and vanilla extract by hand.
- Sift 1/4 cup of the flour mixture over the top of the whites and gently fold together with a large rubber spatula until there are just a few streaks of flour remaining. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture a 1/4 cup at a time.
- Fill the cupcake tins 3/4 of the way full, trying your best to pour equally.
- Bake the large cupcakes for 30 minutes and the small cupcakes for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Turn the muffin tins upside down and suspend them. I placed the edges of the muffin tins onto mason jars. Let the cupcakes cool hanging upside down for 2 hours. You will have to run a knife along the edges to get the cupcakes out.
Filling the Cupcakes
- For the standard cupcakes: use the wider bottom half of a frosting tip to punch wells in the middle of the cupcakes.
- For the large cupcakes: use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to punch wells in the middle of the cupcakes.
- Push the frosting tip or biscuit cutter down in the center of the cupcake and twist a little. It will feel like you’re squishing the cupcake. Don’t worry, the cupcake will bounce back up. You might have to get a knife to help cut out the circle.
- Dig out the plug of cake, fill with the Strawberry Limoncello Compote, and put the plug back in. Wipe away any compote that seeps out of the crack. Prepare the frosting.
7 Minute Frosting
- Put water in the bottom of a double-broiler, making sure that it doesn’t touch the top pan. Bring it to a boil.
- While the water is coming to a boil, combine the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in the top portion of the double broiler (you’re doing this off the heat). Cream of tartar prevents sugar crystals from forming, keeping the frosting smooth and not grainy.
- Add the cold water and beat for a 1/2 minute on low speed. It should look well combined but not fluffy.
- Place over the boiling water and beat constantly on high speed with an electric mixer for about 7 minutes till the frosting has formed stiff peaks. Stiff peaks mean that when you pull the mixer out, you could turn it to the side and the frosting peaks won’t fall because they’re stiff.
- Remove from the heat and add vanilla extract, beating for about 2 minutes on high until the frosting is at a spreadable consistency. It should be smooth and fluffy. This type of frosting does not last long so consider when the cupcakes will be eaten before frosting.
Notes
Storing Your Cupcakes
- Once frosted, only leave your cupcakes at room temperature for a maximum of four hours. If you leave them at room temperature longer, the frosting starts to harden and turn into a type of meringue.
- Store covered in the refrigerator and the frosting will keep perfectly.
- You can also store the frosted cupcakes in the freezer. To unthaw, put the cupcakes in the fridge.
- Depending on the sweetness or tartness of the strawberries, you will have to adjust the flavoring to your taste. Adding a little fresh lemon juice and salt will help elevate the flavors but if it’s still not perfect, add a little bit more limoncello or sugar.
- If you don’t have a double broiler just put a glass bowl on top of a saucepan.
- You could probably frost all of the cupcakes with 1 batch of frosting if you're stingy. If you like big fluffy mounds of frosting like in the pictures, you won't be able to frost all the cupcakes. You can either make a double batch of frosting or save unfrosted cupcakes to make Angel Food Cake Icecream.